The Future of Consumerist

Over the last twelve years, Consumerist has been a steadfast proponent and voice on behalf of consumers, from exposing shady practices by secretive cable companies to pushing for action against dodgy payday lenders. Now, we’re joining forces with Consumer Reports, our parent organization, to cultivate the next generation of consumer advocacy.

Stay tuned as Consumerist’s current and future content finds its home as a part of the Consumer Reports brand. In the meantime, you can access existing Consumerist content below, and we encourage you to visit Consumer Reports to read the latest consumer news.

exxon

There are plenty of reasons to poke fun at Twentieth Century Fox’s new, completely unnecessary FXX network, but it’s unfair to pick on a channel that only has a single decent show (which had to be imported from FX). That hasn’t stopped ExxonMobil from taking a break from profiteering and polluting to sue Fox and FXX for having the gall to make a seemingly obvious logo design choice when presented with two consecutive Xs. [More]

In 2007, Venezuela nationalized its oil assets, violating contracts with oil giants such as Exxon. A Paris-based International Chamber of Commerce arbitration panel awarded $908 million to Exxon, and the outcome is being viewed as more of a victory for the country’s state oil company than the company. [More]

Exxon made $11.68 billion in the second quarter, says the AP, which is “the biggest profit from operations ever by any U.S. corporation,” but that wasn’t quite enough to please investors, who were disappointed.

Here’s another tip for our Make the Most of Unemployment guide: if you’re going to get fired, be a CEO. HR World has rounded up 15 of the most shocking golden parachutes given out by big corporations to their departing leaders. Some of our favorites, inside.

The bracket has been updated as we prepare for Round 4 of our Worst Company In America contest. See the full-sized graphic, suitable for framing or forming the basis of informal office betting pools, inside…

Exxon says the US retail gas station market is “too challenging” and they’ll be selling the roughly 2,220 service stations the company owns. There are 12,000 Exxon/Mobil branded stations in the United States, but about 75 percent are already owned by others.

The Supreme Court is currently considering whether to halve the punitive damages levied against Exxon for its massive 1989 oil spill from the Exxon Valdez tanker, from the current $2.5 billion to something more like $1 billion. Exxon claims the higher number amounts to excessive punishment. According to the New York Times, the decision may come down to a tie with four justices on either side; Justice Alito is not participating because he owns Exxon Mobile stock. The Exxon Valdez disaster “caused a 3,000-square-mile oil slick and still affects Alaska’s fisheries after nearly 19 years.”

Exxon Mobil’s record annual earnings followed a year of extraordinarily high energy prices as crude oil topped $78 a barrel in the summer – driving up average gasoline prices in the United States to more than $3 a gallon. Prices retreated later in the year.

Know this An Inconvenient Truth parody? If you’ve been on YouTube any time in the last 48 hours, very probably. Perhaps you were even one of the knee-jerk reactionaries who left a comment either praising (“Finally sockin’ it to those hippy pansies in the taint!”) or condemning it (“Wow, was that ever unfunny. Unlike that giant flap of skin on the neck of the guy who runs Exxon.”)

As quarterly earnings rolled in yesterday, Exxon announced it earned $8 billion in profits. The oil company earned 9.5 cents per dollar of gas, “cashing in on skyrocketing prices at every stage of the process,” reports MSNBC.